


A Tale of Man and Monster

by orphan_account



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Dreemurr family stuff, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, gonna add more tags as they come up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-05
Updated: 2016-01-05
Packaged: 2018-05-11 10:46:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5624263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No matter the circumstances, no being comes into the world with cruelness and malice in their hearts. One way or another, the world warps their view further and further, until they've become demons that come when you call their names.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Once Upon A Time

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I just wanted to give a quick thanks to anybody who's reading this-- this is the first fic of mine that I'm actually making public anywhere, so feedback is very appreciated! ;v; 
> 
> I didn't particularly go too deep into Chara's past in this chapter, mostly vague mentions and such, but I'll go into it later down the line!
> 
> Also, here's a quick trigger warning: I've got suicide tagged up there, but this chapter is VERY heavy with it. The full thought process, the attempted action, and everything. Please, don't read this chapter if you yourself struggle with suicidal thoughts. The next will be much more light-hearted.
> 
> If you're intent on still going, though, read with caution, friends, and stay safe.

If one thing was certain, and one thing that was mentioned to almost sickening amounts, it was that the War of Beasts was a stupendous win for mankind as a whole.

It seemed to be something inevitable, they'd been told their entire life. Despite the cities upon cities of monsters living peacefully among themselves, not often daring to tread upon the hostile human grounds, their ranks were seen as a threat. It wasn't the numbers of the beings that resounded as a menace to mankind, not at all; the monsters had the full potential to harness the strength of a human soul, regardless of how the human has fallen, and in turn would become more powerful than anyone could imagine. Monsterkind as a whole, though, had no interest in stealing human souls-- save for a few, much like humans, but those were taken and punished with haste. Monsters were in a delicate balance with the human species that they couldn't afford to have toppled. 

As far as any monster seemed to know, too, regardless of the tensions, humans tolerated their presence.

They couldn't have been any more incorrect.

The wars, as anyone described it, were harsh and sudden. It'd started out as more of an ambush than a battle, really. True war only lasted for perhaps a week, if even that, before the monster populations were trapped beneath the world's surface.

No matter how times it was described to Chara, in differing degrees of colorful explanations and old war stories, they weren't able to see it as anything other than a failure that hung over the humans that'd come out of that mess. It was a ruthless slaughter, purely done out of fear for something that humans couldn't control for once. They had no way of ensuring that it wouldn't become a problem, so mankind got rid of it entirely. Chara didn't deem it with pride, as the rest of their little town did-- only with indifference instead.

That wasn't exactly an opinion that went over well, though. Especially when they'd come to an age where it started being expressed more openly.

 

To this very moment, Chara partially wished they would've kept themselves hushed about their thoughts on the "great battles." It wasn't as though they didn't have a shortage of things to battle with in their hometown, anyhow. Their peers hadn't ever been exactly fond of them, nor their elders, especially not these days, but to say that they doubted something that their people celebrated so vehemently?

Well. Things after that hadn't been a walk in the park for Chara, needless to say.

At least things would be turning up from here, though. Not for themselves, no-- but, for their family, perhaps. The family that had opted to dismiss their existence after they'd been chosen, to act as though they were a phantom that lingered in the halls, no matter the small talk the child would try to make with them. Maybe the town as a whole would benefit from their absence?

No, hopefully not. As begrudgingly good-willed as they were to their family, who despite their negligence, provided somewhere warm for them to stay, the town had done nothing of the sort. That town had made their life a living nightmare, and all the guilty parties knew exactly who they were. The harsh words, the thrown objects, the belittling-- all of it, Chara wanted them to have the weight of for the rest of their lives. They wanted all those disgusting beings to take that guilt to their grave with them.

If they would've had a push further in the right direction, maybe they would've taken a few to the grave with them, but that didn't matter now.

 

They'd taken an evening, and without a second glance from their family, they departed. At first, Chara merely considered running away. Maybe they'd find a town that wasn't composed of savages and entitled, shambling corpses of people with pride to spare. Merely a few moments away from home reminded them, though, that no. No other town would be any different than their own. Despite being so close to the final battleground, their town was not the epicenter of the problem.

It was humans as a whole that were the way they were. Their only freedom would to be escape from mankind itself, and with the planet being riddled with the parasite, their only answer was as clear as day.

Mt. Ebbot. The mountain of legends, where one could scale and never return. Nonexistence was their answer, and during the climb, they'd made peace with it. Ceasing to be was better than tolerating another moment of the incessant wave of apathy and disgust their town had to offer them, wasn't it?

Of course it is, they'd remind the worries at the back of their mind, as they peered down the chasm that led deep into the mountain. Anything was better than dealing with that.

 

Despite themselves, though, a look back was taken to the light filtering in through the cave's entrance. A heavy weight sank in their stomach, and a pale hand lifted to brush through their ginger hair. This was it. This was the last time they'd see that sunlight, the last time they'd feel the warmth of a summer afternoon, and they had no one to say goodbye to.

If they would've thought on it any longer, they would have probably faltered, maybe lingered in the cave's mouth to mourn their own death. No one else was going to, so they'd probably be the only one.

An impulse was acted on, though-- a flicker of outrage at the notion that no one had even come to stop them from going up the avoided landmark, a distraught mixture of sorrow and anger towards their fellow humans, before they'd moved their first foot, the second following as they tumbled.

No words escaped them. Only a hitch of their breath, anxiety bubbling up with the fleeting regret, before they'd closed their eyes and tried to accept it. This was their choice, their control, their final act of defiance against the world that wanted to see them live to continue writhing and failing at all they tried.

Their only regret now was opening their eyes, watching the stone floor of the caverns rush up to meet them, before everything finally came to a rough, sudden stop.

They'd barely heard a voice calling out to them, too, in their last fleeting seconds of consciousness.

  
It'd been unfamiliar, but clear as day. Maybe it'd been the voice of an angel.


	2. Fallen Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thankfully, this chapter's way happier than the last, aside from a tiny bit of underlying sad. :>
> 
> Also, a big thanks to the kudos and nice comments so far! You all really fueled my confidence and motivation to get another chapter up, and I really appreciate it!

"Oh no, oh, this is bad, that's really bad. Mom! Dad! Can you hear me?"

 

Bleary eyes opened to a voice, far louder than Chara would've liked it to have been. Who was that, and what were they shouting about? Their head was killing them. Their whole body ached. It was really, really hard to breathe, when they tried to take in a deep breath. Movement wasn't exactly something that their body was having any of right now, either, no matter how badly they wanted to see just who was making their voice so terribly known.

A realization sank in that either they hadn't died, or that maybe the afterlife was a tortured existence where everything hurt.

They were really, really hoping that wasn't the case.

 

Apparently, though, in an attempt to move, they'd shifted just enough to snare whoever's attention was calling, and before long, footsteps were rushing to them, the voice having grown ever-closer.

"Oh my god, you're alive," The voice seemed relieved, if even just a bit of that ease of tension mixed in with the voice's panic. "Can you talk? Or hear me at all? If you can't talk, but you _can_ hear, try to listen to my voice, okay?"

Question after rushed question came, with Chara unable to get out an answer, some shifting heard just before them before there was a touch to their shoulder. Had they been able to, they probably would've reeled away from it, but for the time being, they could only let out a pained sound, a barely audible whimper that they just couldn't help. They felt pathetic, but then again, there were a lot of things they were feeling right now-- failure and regret being among the wave of foul emotions they were having at the moment.

Hazy eyes tried to make out the shape of whoever was cradling their crumpled body, but to no avail. Everything was blurred. What they could make out, though, was that whoever this is was... white. White as snow. That wasn't even to mention that they certainly weren't very human-looking in appearance.

"You look really bad, oh no." The worried voice continued to ramble, before one hand left them, soreness blossoming in the spot where the hand once had lied. Some rustling sounds later had something pressing to their face, though, a panicked, displeased look washing over Chara's face, though apparently, the mystery child (judging by their size and voice) had caught on to that.

"I promise this isn't bad, okay? Your soul, it's-- I don't really know how to put this lightly," The figure admitted, pausing before speaking up. "It's really busted up. I'm kind of amazed you're still alive. But, this kind of food heals souls! It's really special and magical. I know that probably sounds really weird, but... Please, trust me. I don't want you to die."

Despite death sounding like the optimal end at this point, with how Chara's body ached worse than any injury they'd had in their whole life, they finally allowed themselves to eat whatever it was they were being offered.

 

It was unlike anything they'd ever had, as far as taste went, Chara noted. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't particularly good, either. They weren't given much time to be focused on what exactly the food was _like,_ though, before they were immediately drawn to what it's effects were. It was a slow process, almost a blossoming feeling that started at their core. It was almost as though something was being repaired, and the pain that'd coursed through their body faded slowly, only being left as a dull ache. What must've been an incredible fall now only felt as though it were a tumble down a hill.

After they'd managed to blink a few times, too, things finally began to come into focus. They were... in some sort of cave system, just below that hole that they'd jumped down, by the looks of it. It was all sheer rock wall up there.

A turn of their head had their focus now on their "savior," as they supposed whoever this was would be.

They were more than right about them not being human. The paleness hadn't been some sort of cave-wandering human, pale as death, but what looked fairly similar to a goat. The kid had soft-looking fur, floppy ears, bright eyes, the whole nine yards. There were even little pointed teeth shown in that smile after red eyes finally raised up to meet his face.

 

Chara was still short on words, shock trying to make heads or tails of what was going on, but the goat-like child seemed to be elated.

"Are you feeling better? You look a lot better now!" The monster chimed, grinning, his smile softening to something still enthusiastic, but less excited than it'd been a moment ago. "What's your name? Can you talk yet?"

A pause went by, before the boy spoke up again. "I'm... gonna take that as a 'no.' My name's Asriel, though! You can tell me your name whenever you feel like it!"

 

Chara wasn't exactly sure what to make of this whole pleasant greeting, honestly. A part of them was still betting on the fact that maybe they'd actually died, and now they were delusional, but this all felt _far_ too real to be something their mind fabricated to make their last moments of death feel better. The soft, fur-covered hands, every detail of the monster before them, the fading aches in their body-- none of it was anything their imagination could've made up on it's own, no matter how creative they would've liked to have cracked themselves up to be.

Another silent moment passed, one where the monster child was probably expecting Chara to speak up, but they did no such thing. His smile faltered a little bit, back to something laced with concern.

"You're still not feeling good, are you? ...Here, I bet my mom would know how to help you. She's good at stuff like this." He tried to urge Chara to their feet, and as much as their ever-clinging independence demanded they tried to get up on their own, they didn't have it in them just yet. There was a long moment of thought, something contemplating in Asriel's face, before he scooped his arm beneath Chara's own, hoisting them to their feet and allowing them to lean against him.

"You got it? We'll go really slow, so you don't fall again." The words of encouragement were given, and Chara could only give a small nod. Seeing as that was the first response that Asriel had gotten from his human counterpart, though, he seemed pretty pleased with it.

 

Before long, the trek through the grounds had started at snail pace, a hand lifting to Chara's head to steady any spinning as they moved along.

"See? It's gonna be okay." Asriel murmured, taking one final glance back to the human he was holding up, doing everything he could to keep them from toppling over once more.

"We'll get you all taken care of, I promise."


End file.
